Leeds United are riding high as they head into this weekend’s fixture against Crystal Palace, fresh from a stellar 4-1 pasting of Newcastle United on Monday night. And whilst Elland Road on a Sunday afternoon at 2pm doesn’t quite carry the same threat as Elland Road under the lights, it’s the same group of players who will be hoping to pick up exactly where they left off before the upcoming, and frankly stupid, “extended” international break.
When I lived in London, I worked in an area of Surrey called Caterham, where plenty of the students and staff were Palace supporters. One member of staff even gave me her season ticket to go and watch Palace play Arsenal. Leeds had played on the Friday night and, as a young man in my 20s, I was incredibly hungover, but it was still my first opportunity to experience Premier League football in person. As nice as those experiences were, though, they’ve left me with absolutely no lingering affection for Crystal Palace, and it’s only natural that I hope we fucking batter them on Sunday.
Leeds are sitting pretty in 3rd place ahead of this weekend’s fixtures, and unfortunately, looking at the table gives me vertigo. It’s early days yet, but there’s something calming knowing that we are a solid Premier League team capable of turning over most teams on our day. Another three points this weekend will see our march towards Europe well and truly underway, and might even have Arsenal and Manchester City looking nervously over their shoulders. All joking aside, eight points from four games, in a run that has featured Forest (A), Brentford (H), Brighton (A) and Newcastle (H), represents a fantastic start. Going into the international break with double figures on the board should be enough to calm even the most pessimistic Leeds supporter.
Somewhere in Bradford, Dan Moylan of The Square Ball is desperately hoping it’s not eight points after five games — a stat that famously came back to bite him during our relegation season.
The Eagles Are Coming
Palace come into this one off the back of a dominant 4-0 win over Lech Poznań in Europe on Thursday night. That fixture was at Selhurst Park, so there’s no gruelling European journey for them to contend with, but Leeds will still be hoping that 90 minutes of midweek football has left a few tired legs behind.
Because, domestically at least, it hasn’t been a particularly good start for Palace. They’ve picked up just three Premier League points from the opening 12 available, with their solitary victory over Fulham sandwiched between defeats to Everton, Manchester City and Ipswich Town. Even that win over Fulham wasn’t particularly convincing, with Palace spending large parts of the game on the back foot and Fulham racking up an xG of 3.14 according to FotMob.
And the wider numbers don’t make for particularly pleasant reading either.
Palace have already conceded a league-high 11 goals, faced a joint-high 26 shots on target and allowed their opponents 164 touches inside their penalty area — more than any other side in the division. They’ve now conceded at least twice in each of their last 10 Premier League matches and haven’t kept a league clean sheet since April 20. Leeds, meanwhile, have scored in each of their last five matches at Elland Road, finding the net 12 times in the process.
I’ve had concerns about Palace since the start of the season, and I still think there’s every chance they could find themselves dragged into a relegation battle. They threw plenty of money at the squad in January, as Leeds know only too well, but spending money and spending it well are two very different things. Brennan Johnson arrived for £35 million, lasted six months and has already been shipped off to Everton in a straight swap for Dwight McNeil.
Make of that what you will.
Leeds United vs Crystal Palace Team News
Leeds United possible starting lineup:
Trafford; Justin, Elvedi, Muharemović; Bogle, Stach, Ampadu, Tanaka, Gudmundsson; Calvert-Lewin, Okafor
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Benítez; Tomiyasu, Richards, Ahanor; Khalaili, Timber, Wharton, Mitchell; Sarr, Pino; Strand Larsen
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